The New Zealand dollar remains the 10th most traded currency globally, according to a new survey.
Photo: 123rf
The Bank of International Settlements three-yearly survey shows about $US136 billion ($NZ214 bn) worth of New Zealand dollars are traded every day around the world.
The kiwi has held the number 10 spot since 2010.
Reserve Bank assistant governor Christian Hawkesby said the New Zealand dollar's attraction was down to the fact it is freely tradable by anyone around the world, the economy had strong fundamentals and rule of law, and that it offered a better return than most other currencies.
"Although our economy is relatively minor compared to the survey participants we are ranked against, the NZ dollar is traded with a disproportionate frequency in global foreign exchange markets."
Trading in kiwi accounted for about 2 percent of all global transactions, but only a fraction of the deals take place in New Zealand.
Trading in foreign exchange markets reached $US6.6 trillion a day compared with $US5.1 trillion three years earlier.
The US dollar is the number one traded currency, being involved in 88 percent of trades, followed by the euro, the Japanese yen, sterling and the Australian dollar.
More than three quarters of trading is done in the United Kingdom, the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.
The local foreign exchange market handled an average of $US9.5 bn a day, down about 10 percent on the previous survey.
Mr Hawkesby said the New Zealand dollar was also being treated, to an extent, as a good quality reserve asset as well as being favoured by currency speculators.